This month we are spotlighting landscape architect Biruk Belay (BLA, 2014). He currently lives in Seattle and works at Site Workshop. UWLA: Could you outline your professional journey between graduation and today? BB: I graduated with a Bachelors in Landscape Architecture in 2014. During my final year of school, I was able to secure an internship at a firm here in Seattle. Soon after that, I had the opportunity to practice Landscape Architecture in Boston, Massachusetts where I spent…
Category: Alumni
Sherry Xu (MLA ’22) in Kubota Garden Foundation Newsletter
Meet Sherry Xu When I first entered Kubota Garden, I was struck by its unique and traditional Japanese landscape features. I wanted to know more about how such a beautiful Japanese garden was designed, built, developed, and maintained, so I decided to volunteer with the Kubota Garden Foundation. To learn more about Kubota Garden, I decided to participate in the “Tuesdays in the Garden” events first. During the weekly mulching and weeding activities, I was fortunate to meet many volunteers…
WASLA: ASLA 2022 National Conference Stipend Recipients
Congratulations to the 2022 ASLA National Conference Stipend recipients, Kove Janeski and Natalie Weiss (both MLA ’24), and Emerging Professionals Rebecca Bachman and Lauren Iversen (both MLA ’20). Thanks to the generous support of our local ASLA – Washington Chapter, our students were able to attend this year’s ASLA Conference in San Francisco.
Video: How land design is answering the cultural needs of Native Americans in Seattle
Tim Lehman (Northern Arapaho), MLA graduate and lecturer, talks about his work with Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center and local Indigenous communities. | The Seattle Times
Mikyoung Kim Design, UW alums, Recipient of ASLA Firm of the Year Award
The American Society of Landscape Architects recently awarded Mikyoung Kim Design the Firm of the Year Award, the highest honor that the ASLA bestows on a landscape architecture firm. Congratulations to UW alums, Associate Principal Bryan Chou (CEP ‘ 02) and Associate Jess Hamilton (MLA ’17)! Mikyoung Kim Press Release Boston, Massachusetts August 2, 2022 Mikyoung Kim Design is this year’s recipient of the Firm of the Year award from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) which is…
Alumni Feature
Jocine Velasco (MLA ’21), Rhys Coffee (MLA ’23), and Ken Yocom are working closely with the Burke Museum, the UW Native American Advisory Board, UW Grounds and Maintenance, and the design firm GGN to study the health and viability of a camas meadow recently designed and installed at the Burke Museum on the UW campus. The collaboration is working to develop interpretive strategies to communicate the importance of this habitat type in the Cascade region for indigeneous communities while also seeking to understand how the…
Landscape Architecture alumni establish a fund for equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts
During their time as students in Landscape Architecture, Rhiannon Neuville, Peter Samuels, and Jake Minden set out to establish a support fund in their department to help advance equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts. Launched in December 2020, the UW//LA Fund for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion aims to financially support a wide range of programs in UW’s Department of Landscape Architecture oriented toward justice in design education and, more broadly, EDI-oriented work within the field. Administered by the UW//LA Justice,…
Alumni Spotlight: Kara Weaver, BLA ’05
For this edition of Alumni Spotlight we had the opportunity to speak with Kara Weaver, a landscape architect at Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN) and a 2005 graduate of the BLA program. UW/LA: Could you describe your current position and what a typical day looks like for you? K: Right now I am the Project Manager for the Civic Park at Hemisfair in San Antonio, Texas. It’s sort of San Antonio’s counterpart to the Seattle Center, which was built for the…
Alumni Spotlight: Brad Kurokawa, BLA ‘82
This month we are spotlighting landscape architect Brad Kurokawa (BLA, 1982). He currently lives and works in Hawai’i as a Principal at Ki Concepts LLC, a small landscape architecture firm. UWLA: Could you describe your current position? BK: I’m a principal at Ki Concepts LLC, a small landscape architecture firm with my brother Joel. Our main office is in Honolulu and I work out of a satellite office on Big Island where I live. Our focus is here in Hawai’i…
Alumni Spotlight: Barbara Deutsch, MLA ’97
This month we are spotlighting Barbara Deutsch, a 1997 graduate of the MLA program. She currently lives in Washington D.C. working as the CEO of the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF). UWLA: What does a typical day look like in your position? BD: No two days are the same but there are cyclical work flows during the year to lead the organization to align decision-making by a board of directors with programs and operations. My position requires me to run a…